Set a 20-minute timer and try these 16 free DCAT practice questions for the De La Salle University College Admission Test. You’ll switch between reasoning, mathematics, science, and English and reading, then use the worked answers to choose what to practise next. You can take the whole set on this page with a sheet of paper.
OpenExamPrep wrote this independent practice set and chose its questions, timing and scoring. If you’re assigned to take the DCAT online, DLSU also requires a separate morning Mock Online Test. Check your assignment in the university’s instructions. DLSU first-year application and online testing schedule
Set up your 20-minute attempt
- Write the numbers 1 to 16 on a sheet. Start your timer when you begin Question 1.
- Record one letter per question. Put a
?beside a guess. If you skip a question, leave space so you can come back to it. - At 16 minutes, use the remaining four minutes on unfinished questions. At 20 minutes, draw a line under your attempt. Keep the original answers and blanks for scoring.
Use a pencil and scratch paper for this attempt. On test day, follow the materials and navigation instructions for your DLSU sitting. The four practice groups below make it easier to locate a skill to review afterwards.
The 16-question DCAT practice set
Questions 1–4 · Reasoning
1. Which number best continues the sequence 5, 8, 14, 23, 35?
A. 47 · B. 50 · C. 53 · D. 57
2. Every student assigned to the lab has completed safety orientation. No student who completed orientation is on the waiting list. Which conclusion must follow?
A. Everyone off the waiting list is assigned to the lab.
B. Everyone who completed orientation is assigned to the lab.
C. Some students on the waiting list are assigned to the lab.
D. No student assigned to the lab is on the waiting list.
3. Four presenters, K, L, M and N, each speak once. M speaks immediately before K. L speaks after K. N speaks before M. Which is the order from first to last?
A. N, M, K, L · B. M, K, N, L · C. N, K, M, L · D. L, N, M, K
4. Each frame has an arrow and a circle. The first four frames, in order, show up and open, right and filled, down and open, left and filled. If the rotation and fill patterns continue, what appears in the fifth frame?
A. Left and open · B. Up and filled · C. Up and open · D. Right and open
Questions 5–8 · Mathematics
5. A bag originally costs ₱800. A shop reduces the price by 15%, then increases the reduced price by 10%. What is the final price?
A. ₱680 · B. ₱760 · C. ₱792 · D. ₱748
6. The five values in a data set are 12, 15, 15, 18 and 25. If 25 is replaced by 30, what happens to the mean and median?
A. The mean increases by 5 and the median stays the same.
B. The mean increases by 1 and the median stays the same.
C. Both increase by 1.
D. The mean stays the same and the median increases by 1.
7. A tank is three-fifths full. After adding 12 litres of water, it is four-fifths full. What is the tank’s full capacity?
A. 15 litres · B. 48 litres · C. 60 litres · D. 72 litres
8. A rectangular garden is 12 metres long and 8 metres wide. A path 1 metre wide runs along all four edges, entirely inside the garden’s outer boundary. What area does the path cover?
A. 36 square metres · B. 40 square metres · C. 60 square metres · D. 77 square metres
Questions 9–12 · Science
9. Students want to test whether a plant nutrient increases seedling height. The group receiving the nutrient sits beside a sunny window. The group receiving plain water sits in a shaded corner. Which change best isolates the effect of the nutrient?
A. Measure both groups twice a day.
B. Give both groups the same light exposure while keeping the nutrient treatment different.
C. Use taller seedlings in the shaded group.
D. Add more seedlings to each group while keeping their locations.
10. A cart moves in a straight line at constant speed. What is the net force on the cart during this motion?
A. A constant force in the direction of motion.
B. A constant force opposite the direction of motion.
C. A force that increases with the distance travelled.
D. Zero.
11. Vinegar and baking soda are mixed inside a sealed, leak-free container. Some of the products are gaseous. What happens to the total mass of the container and everything inside it?
A. It decreases because a gas forms.
B. It increases because the products take up more space.
C. It stays the same.
D. It can be determined only if the gas volume is known.
12. Two similar potato strips are placed in different solutions for the same time. One in concentrated salt water loses mass, while one in distilled water gains mass. Which explanation best accounts for the loss of mass in the first strip?
A. Water moved out of the potato cells into the salt solution.
B. Water moved into the potato cells from the salt solution.
C. The salt solution increased water pressure inside the cells by drawing water inward.
D. Water moved into and out of the cells at equal rates, producing no net transfer.
Questions 13–16 · English and reading
Read this passage for Questions 13 and 14.
A school library tried opening an hour earlier on Saturdays for one month. It recorded more Saturday visits than in the preceding month, but Saturday borrowing totals stayed about the same. The trial also fell during examination season. The librarian proposed continuing the trial into a month with regular classes before deciding whether to keep the earlier hours.
13. Why does the librarian want another month of data?
A. To check whether the library charged the correct fees.
B. To prove that earlier hours always increase borrowing.
C. To see whether the visits pattern persists outside examination season.
D. To compare Saturday visits with Sunday visits.
14. What does the detail about borrowing totals contribute to the passage?
A. It shows that visits and borrowing did not rise together during the trial.
B. It shows that the library stopped lending books.
C. It explains why examinations were scheduled on Saturdays.
D. It establishes that fewer students visited the library during the trial.
15. Choose the verb that completes the sentence in standard written English. “The list of alternate venues ___ posted beside the school office door yesterday.”
A. were · B. have been · C. are · D. was
16. Read the sentence “When Lea met Mina outside the testing centre, she had the permit.” Which revision makes clear that Lea had the permit?
A. When Lea met Mina outside the testing centre, the permit was with her.
B. Lea had the permit when she met Mina outside the testing centre.
C. Mina had the permit when Lea met her outside the testing centre.
D. One of the two students had the permit outside the testing centre.
Answer key and worked explanations
Use the letters to score your timed attempt. Before you read the worked answers, try any blanks again with the clock off to see which ones you can solve.
1 B · 2 D · 3 A · 4 C · 5 D · 6 B · 7 C · 8 A · 9 B · 10 D · 11 C · 12 A · 13 C · 14 A · 15 D · 16 B
- B · 50. The gaps are 3, 6, 9 and 12. Increase the gap by 3 again to get 15, then add 15 to 35. Choosing 47 repeats the last gap.
- D · No assigned student is on the waiting list. Assignment implies completed orientation, which rules out being on the waiting list. Choice B reverses the first statement. A student can complete orientation without being assigned.
- A · N, M, K, L. Treat M and K as one ordered block. N goes before that block and L goes after it. Choice B keeps the block together but puts N too late.
- C · Up and open. The arrow turns one quarter turn clockwise per frame, returning to up on the fifth frame. The circle alternates open and filled, so the fifth is open. Choice B follows only the rotation.
- D · ₱748. After the discount the price is ₱800 × 0.85 = ₱680. The increase acts on ₱680, so multiply that by 1.10 to get ₱748. Subtracting the two percentages would give ₱760, which uses the wrong base for the increase.
- B · The mean rises by 1 and the median stays the same. The sum increases by 5 across five observations, so the mean rises by 1. The middle entry is still 15. The changed observation and the average change by different amounts.
- C · 60 litres. The rise from three-fifths to four-fifths is one-fifth of the tank. One-fifth holds 12 litres, so the whole tank holds 5 × 12 = 60 litres. Choice B gives the water in the tank at four-fifths full.
- A · 36 square metres. The outer area is 12 × 8 = 96. The inner rectangle loses 1 metre at each end of each dimension, giving 10 × 6 = 60. The difference is 36. Adding four full-width side strips would double-count the corners and yield 40.
- B · Give both groups the same light exposure. Light exposure changes along with nutrient use in the original setup. Keeping light the same removes that competing explanation. More seedlings at the same two locations leave the light difference in place.
- D · Zero. Speed and direction are both constant, so acceleration is zero. The net force is mass times acceleration, which is zero here. Individual forces can still act if their vector sum is zero.
- C · The total mass stays the same. The reaction rearranges matter, and the sealed container keeps the gas inside. Include the entire container and its contents in the comparison. A change in volume does not establish a change in total mass.
- A · Water moved out of the cells. In the concentrated salt solution, the net movement of water by osmosis is out of the potato cells. That water loss explains the lower mass. Equal movement in both directions would produce no net loss of water.
- C · Check the pattern outside examination season. The trial covered an unusual month. Another month would help the librarian see whether the visits pattern carries over to regular classes. The passage gives no Sunday comparison.
- A · Visits and borrowing tell different stories. The passage says visits rose but borrowing stayed roughly level. A busier library does not establish that more books were borrowed during the trial.
- D · Was. The subject is the singular noun list. The phrase of alternate venues describes it, and yesterday puts the posting in the past. Were would agree with a plural subject.
- B · Lea had the permit. B names Lea as the subject of had. A leaves her ambiguous, C gives the permit to Mina, and D leaves the holder unnamed.
Turn your practice score into one drill
Give yourself one point per correct answer. Count wrong answers and blanks as zero. Put correct guesses in the correct column and mark them for review. Your total describes this attempt on this set. The DLSU first-year application page publishes no numeric DCAT cutoff or practice-score conversion. DLSU first-year application guidance
Tally the four groups out of four points each. A blank you solve cleanly untimed suggests you should look at pacing. A wrong answer you correct by checking one step points to execution. If you still cannot set up the solution, start with the underlying concept.
Copy one row for each missed, skipped or guessed question. Record what happened on your first attempt before you decide what to drill.
| Question | Timed result | What happened | Next drill |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q5 | Wrong | I used the original price as the base for both changes. | Write the new base after each change in five fresh percentage problems. |
| Q___ | Wrong, blank or guessed | Concept, execution or pacing | One skill to practise |
| What happened | What to practise next |
|---|---|
| You followed the arrow in Q4 and missed the change in the circle. | Write both rules before selecting an answer. Try a fresh figure pattern in the DCAT reasoning lessons. |
| You used the wrong base in a percentage calculation. | Label the starting value of each change. Review the business math and statistics lesson, then solve a new two-change problem. |
| You mixed up a science result and its explanation. | State the observation first, then name the rule that explains it. For forces and motion, work through the DCAT physics lesson. |
| You picked an inference the passage could not support. | Underline the exact sentence that supports your answer. Try the same approach in the DCAT reading lesson. |
For example, 11 correct, three wrong and two blank gives 11 out of 16. If Q5 and Q8 were wrong and Q7 was blank, mathematics was one out of four. Suppose you solve Q7 untimed but still use the original price for both steps of Q5. Start with the percentage drill in the worksheet. Then try a new mixed set to see whether you still label the base while switching topics.
Use the free DCAT practice bank for fresh questions and explanations. If a second mixed attempt shows the same kind of error, the DCAT reviewer and study plan can help you plan a longer review.
If DLSU assigned you an online mock session
For first-year college admission in AY 2027–2028, DLSU requires online examinees to attend a morning Mock Online Test before the actual DCAT. The university’s first-year application page lists these pairs. DLSU online testing schedule
| DLSU morning mock | Actual online DCAT |
|---|---|
| November 25, 2026 | November 27, 2026 |
| December 2, 2026 | December 4, 2026 |
| December 9, 2026 | December 11, 2026 |
Check both dates against your own DLSU communications and Archers Hub account. Save the assigned session details where you can find them again. If the details are missing or appear to conflict, use the admissions contact on the first-year application page to confirm your assignment. For permit and application steps, use the DCAT application guide.